


The Journey Creates A Home

by lelepandewritium



Series: What Makes A Home [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Race Changes, Bonding, Gen, M/M, Minor Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro, Winged Race
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 19:39:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4889581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lelepandewritium/pseuds/lelepandewritium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zoro belongs to a winged race known as Aetherans, and one day, he happens to (literally) fall onto the ship of the infamous Straw Hat pirates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Journey Creates A Home

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, I'd like to thank Loofah and Zoe for helping me edit this fic. THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU HELPED ME OUT A LOT GUYS.
> 
> Second of all, this fic was made for the opreversebang of 2015, and there are two wonderful art pieces for it done by trashyscarface on tumblr, so please go check them out!
> 
> Here's the Url for the art, I can't figure out how to link it, sorry! 
> 
> http://trashyscarface.tumblr.com/post/130087912277/artwork-for-opreversebang-where-i-nerded-out-with
> 
> Enjoy!

The storm had come as a surprise to all of them, even Nami.

The sky had been clear above them, birds flying and calling out their joy as they flew with the help of the cool ocean wind. 

The crew was safe and relaxed. 

Out of nowhere, Nami had jumped up from her chair, shouting a warning to everyone.

But by that time, it was too late.

The sky grew dark and the wind picked up speed.

The waves crashed more forcefully against the Sunny’s sides, causing Chopper and Usopp to collapse against the grass covered deck.

It only took them a few seconds to get over their shock.

With determination, they all ran towards their designated posts, keeping silent as they followed their navigators orders, needle-like droplets of water beginning to pelt down on them.

The New World seemed to be against them today.

A waterspout began to form in the ocean a few meters ahead of them.

Nami was shouting orders more frantically, the others struggling to hear her words over the howling wind.

Chopper was forced to abandon his post as a harsh wave knocked against the left side of the ship, sending a large amount of water onto the deck and hitting directly over the young doctor.

The water seemed to grab ahold of him, dragging him towards the end of the ship and forcing him towards the raging ocean below. But before he could fall in, Franky had shot his arm out and grabbed ahold of him.

“OW! NAMI! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE QUICK; I’LL SET UP THE COUP DE BURST!”

Nami gritted her teeth, holding onto the top patio’s railing so that she wouldn’t be knocked around. “ALRIGHT, HURRY UP! WE CAN’T GET SUCKED INTO THE WATERSPOUT!”

Franky rushed down below the Sunny and took Chopper with him. He would need help setting everything up so they could get out of this storm as quickly as possible.

Nami watched them descend below the ship, raising her head back up and gasping at the sight of the waterspout. It had grown massive in an incredibly short amount of time, and it was heading in their direction.

There was no way they could avoid it in these conditions.

“EVERYONE, HOLD ONTO SOMETHING QUICKLY!”

Not long after her warning, the ship jerked harshly as it was sucked into the waterspout, making all of them shout in alarm.

Water pelted against them, cold winds slamming into their soaked bodies.

The freezing temperatures created hail that rained down on them.

Bruises, cuts and scrapes appeared on previously clear skin.

Lightning flashed around them, threatening to strike their vulnerable ship.

The Sunny creaked with the harsh treatment she was currently experiencing, struggling not to splinter and crack under the force of the onslaught. 

Finally, there was a muffled shout from down below.

They all tensed, holding their breath for what they knew was coming.

With a sudden jerk, they were propelled out of the waterspout at an angle that was quickly righted. They managed to get out of the worst of the storm, but as a safety precaution, a second coup de burst was used. 

They were all worn, collapsed on the Sunny’s deck once they were sure they were out of immediate danger.

All but one of course.

Luffy was laughing against the side railing of the Sunny, turned completely upside down with his legs hanging over the rail. He had landed like this once they touched down from the second coup de burst.

“That was so cool! We should go back and do it again!”

The rest of the crew groaned in sync. They’ve been doing that a lot lately.

Nami lifted her head up, glaring over at Luffy. “No, Luffy! That was TERRIBLE! We are never going to go through that again so long as we can help it!”

Sanji sighed, sitting up from his sprawled position and taking the now soggy cigarette out of his mouth and tossing it aside.

“Listen to Nami-swan, Luffy! She’s our lovely navigator AND your first mate.”

Luffy pouted at Sanji, letting himself tilt to the side and collapse over onto the wet grass beside him.

It was squishy and muddy, but he didn’t really care about getting dirty.

Nami sighed, glancing down at her log pose and groaning. They were COMPLETELY off course, and who knew how far they’d been blown away. She couldn’t really judge how long it would take them to get to the next island. 

Chewing on her lower lip, she glanced around the area, sighing as she went to right their position. Hopefully they would pass by another island. They were going to run out of supplies soon.

They had about a month’s worth of food stocked up right now, if they rationed it carefully and didn’t have snacks.

Luffy was going to hate it. 

Maybe this would encourage him to fish more seriously.

\-----------------------------

A week had passed since their unfortunate encounter with the waterspout.

Luffy had been EXTREMELY vocal about his displeasure at having to eat only three times a day instead of his regular five. Not counting the snacks.

When Sanji heard this, he had immediately begun to kick at the rubber man for stealing food out of the kitchen without permission, but Luffy’s raucous laughter roared over his yelling.

Nami sighed, rolling her eyes as her lips twitched up in a hint of a smile.

Looking up, she closed her eyes and hummed at the calming scent of the ocean.

However, a slight shift in the wind made her eyebrows furrow. It wasn’t the weather that had changed, but something that was going through it.

Something larger than a regular bird.

And it was powerful.

Opening her eyes, she looked up at the sky warily until she spotted something moving incredibly fast.

It was just a dot, but it stood out harshly against the blue sky and the white of the clouds.

What was it?

It wasn’t long before her hard staring caught the attention of the others.

Murmuring started up as soon as the others saw the moving thing, Luffy excitedly pointing at it and chanting, “Meatmeatmeatmeatmeat!”

Usopp puffed out his chest and loudly declared that he was going to catch the foul beast.

Running over to the nearest cannon, Usopp popped in one of his self-designed net torpedos and aimed. Sticking his tongue out, he concentrated, trying to ignore the vibrating Luffy that stood directly behind him. 

He waited until the thing was close to being on top of the ship before firing.

Everyone on the ship looked up curiously, not sure if Usopp would manage to hit something that moved so quickly.

But lo and behold, the net wrapped around something, trapping it’s wings against its body and making it plummet out of the sky.

Directly to their ship.

Luffy cheered loudly, shoving a beaming Usopp out of the way so he could catch the mystery bird and be the first to have a taste.

As the form got nearer, they started to realise how big it actually was.

And how... not a bird it was.

Loud, panicked screeches that a bird could never make were getting louder and louder.

Poor Chopper had to cover his sensitive ears!

Luffy wasn’t very thrown off, but he was beginning to realise that he probably couldn’t eat this mystery bird. It wasn’t a bird at all from what it looked like! It did have wings though…

Maybe just a nibble.

Grinning, he positioned himself directly under the falling figure and held out his arms, easily catching it and bending his knees to make the impact less… well, less of an impact for the creature.

The screeching ceased immediately, replaced by growls and mumbled words that seemed to be from a different language altogether. The thing, or, well, the MAN as Luffy was beginning to see, began struggling harshly, surprising Luffy at the strength he held.

Not really meaning to, he dropped the bundle in his arms to the ground, blinking at the loud thump it caused and the throaty groan that came from the mystery man.

Who had wings.

Three PAIRS of wings to be precise.

Everyone gaped at the slumped over man, not sure what to make of their peculiar situation.

Luffy was the only exception. 

He was GRINNING.

They all watched with baited breath as the man sat up, growling and using his claw-like hands to rip the net into pieces, tossing them off to the side.

The man froze halfway through, however, finally realizing that he had an audience.

Slowly, he raised up his right hand, grabbing a piece of the net and removing it from his face, showing it clearly to everyone present.

The crew didn’t know what to make of the...man-bird? He had claw-like hands and feet, which looked much more like a bird’s than anything else. His wings stood out completely from the rest of his body. They ranged in size, one easily being twice the man’s entire length (when spread open), another about his length, and a smaller one that was about half. The largest pair was pure white. The medium set was a bright red that bled into a darker hue as it tapered off, with two streaks of gold in them. The smallest was black, with another two golden streaks cutting through the darkness of the wings. The man himself had wavy green hair and pointed ears with three golden teardrop earrings hanging from the left one. His eyes- no, his EYE, was gray. The other was closed shut, a thin but large scar running vertically through it. 

Remaining silent, the strange man tossed the final piece of net away from himself, blinking at the people before him with his one eye. His gaze was strangely curious, even after being shot down by this group.

After almost a minute of silence, he took in a breath and opened his mouth, letting out a single word with a wave of his hand.

“Yo.”

And it was after this that the man felt his raised arm get grabbed, and a burning pain shot through it.

“OW! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING??!!?”

The man jerked his arm away from the man wearing a straw hat, rubbing over the place where bite marks were deeply etched into it, already dreading the bruise that would rise up and stand out from his skin.

Luffy only laughed, casual as ever as he plopped down in front of the winged man, his eyes slowly traveling from his face down the rest of his body.

Apparently, he wasn’t wearing clothes.

“Wow! Your hair really IS green!”

The rest of the crew roared back to life at that exclamation.

\-----------------------------

It didn’t take very long for Nami to start shrieking about getting something to cover the winged man up with. She did NOT appreciate...THAT, hanging out in the open.

The only ones who didn’t seem to mind were Luffy, Franky, Brook and, not surprisingly at all, Robin. 

Sanji and Usopp however, scrambled to search for something to cover the man with. Sanji had a pair of shorts that he hardly ever wore, but the winged man’s flailing and shouting made it difficult to slip them on.

The claws also had something to do with it of course.

Sanji was left wallowing in a corner over his shredded shorts not much after, and finally only Ussop was left to solve the issue. 

After a moment of deep thought, a light bulb appeared to go off above his head. With a wide smile, he ran down to the men’s sleeping quarters and nabbed Luffy’s sheet, running back up and securely tying it around the man’s waist to cover his most private bits. It looked a lot like a long skirt, but that was the best that he could think to do for now. 

“So what’s your name?”

The ruckus that Nami was causing quieted down at Luffy’s question. Honestly, that wasn’t the first question most of them would choose to ask.

But this was Luffy.

Blinking, the winged man looked up from glaring back and forth between the blonde haired man, the one with the long nose, and the sheet wrapped around his waist. 

What?

Tilting his head, the man’s brows furrowed together, not expecting that to be asked of him.

“...Zoro. Roronoa Zoro.”

Luffy beamed, excitement written across his every feature as he leaned more into the winged man’s space.

“Zoro! Cool! You have awesome wings!” 

Luffy laughed, reaching out to poke and prod at them.

Zoro wasn’t sure what to do. He was a bit too stunned to think properly or to even push the overly excited human away.

Sanji, now done mourning over his shorts, stomped over and glared at Zoro. 

“Ugly wings, if you ask me.” he muttered bitterly. 

Zoro’s head snapped over to the blonde, a snarl tearing out of his throat as he swiped at the man angrily. How dare he call his wings ugly! 

Sanji easily evaded the attack, smirking at the crouched form. “Missed me, moss head!”

Zoro growled, ready to lunge at the man and gouge out his internal organs, but before he could, a question was directed towards him from the black haired woman in the group.

“So how did you become this way? Did you eat a devil fruit?”

There was a look in her eyes, a type of gleam that immediately had Zoro on edge. She knew something. 

Narrowing his eyes, Zoro slowly shook his head. “No...I’m a, uh, different race. Like the fishmen, just I have wings and claws. I’m known as an Aetheran. Though not many humans know of our existence. We tend to keep to ourselves.”

He looked away from the woman, annoyed by the clear amusement and understanding in her eyes. She obviously knew about his kind.

An intense pain shot through him suddenly though, a pained hiss tearing out of him as he doubled over, jerking away from the curious hand that had been prodding at the left side of Wado. What the fuck? After gathering himself back together, he swallowed the pain back and looked at his wing, only now noticing how...not right it looked. It was bent at a certain angle. An angle it SHOULDN’T be bent in. Hissing, he tried to move it, only for the pain to ripple through him once more. His wing was mostly numb until he tried to move it.

He shrieked in pain, a muttering of words in his native tongue following soon after.

Chopper, who had firmly been hiding behind Franky, jerked into action and rushed over to Zoro, immediately inspecting the bent wing. He turned to Luffy.

“Luffy! His wing is broken! The net that Usppp fired must have caught it wrong and I’m sure that all the flailing he was doing didn’t help either. Can you carry him to the medical room? I have to get a few things.”

Luffy nodded, immediately swooping down and gathering a protesting Zoro into his arms, happily carrying him to the medical room while chattering on at him.

\-----------------------------

It took over an hour to get Zoro’s wing properly set. Zoro kept struggling, not fully understanding what the raccoon was doing to him. The medical practices for humans and, well, raccoons apparently, differed from the Aetherans. They were a hardy race and tended to heal on their own, never really searching for assistance unless it was a life or death situation or it involved their wings.

Luffy was the one designated to hold the squirming Aetheran down, doing his best to keep the man distracted with pointless chatter, as Chopper pumped painkillers into him and began to set his wing back into it’s proper position.

A constant hiss escaped Zoro, who was clearly displeased at being manhandled and having his wing touched and prodded at.

He wasn’t used to it. 

To the Aetherans, their wings were...special. Important. It was considered rude to touch someone else’s wings unless you were family or a lover.

And here these humans (and raccoon) were, touching his wings!

Chopper sighed, taking a step back from the Aetheran and smiling at him.

“Okay! Your wing is all set! It was broken, so I had to re-set it into its right position, then wrap it up to keep it from moving. You can’t move it, okay? If you do, it won’t heal correctly!”

Zoro scowled at the raccoon, finally managing to shove the straw hatted boy off of him and sit upright. He looked at his wing curiously, experimentally trying to open it, but the raccoon knew exactly what he was doing. His wing wouldn’t budge. Sighing, Zoro looked down and nodded hesitantly.

“Thanks...I guess.”

He froze suddenly, looking back at his wing and wondering how exactly he’d be getting home like this.

“You can stay on the ship!”

Jerking in surprise, Zoro looked over towards the straw hatted man, blinking in shock.

“It’s Usopp’s fault that your wing is broken, and I don’t think you can fly like that, so you can stay on the ship! As captain I have to take responsibility for his messups!”

Luffy laughed, sitting cross legged beside Zoro and beaming at him.

Zoro squirmed, uncomfortable with the...kindness being shown to him right now. He’d...never experienced it before. Not from his own home and especially not from humans.

Forcing himself to nod, Zoro managed to smile back at the cheerful captain. It didn’t seem like staying here would be too bad. Besides, his wing wouldn’t take that long to heal.

This meant he couldn’t disembowel that blonde asshole though. Shame.

\-----------------------------

It wasn’t long before Zoro was introduced to the entire crew. 

There was Nami, the orange haired girl, who was the navigator of the crew and the first mate.

There was Ussop, the long nosed boy who had SHOT HIM OUT OF THE SKY. So, obviously, he was the sharp shooter in the group. He was definitely on Zoro’s hit list at the moment. 

Then there’s the swirly-browed fool Sanji. He was the cook for the ship, and he was going to be the first to go if Zoro ever got the chance.

There was also the raccoon, who he now knew was in fact a reindeer who ate the hito hito no mi. He was obviously the doctor.

Then there was the black-haired woman, who Zoro immediately did not trust and still didn’t, named Robin. She was a historian and she ate the hana hana no mi.

Franky was the shipwright and mechanic and weapons builder. He was always loud, it seemed. He was also a cyborg, which was pretty interesting. 

Then there was Brook. The musician who was also a swordsman. And who was dead but not dead anymore? Zoro was still confused about that one, but the only explanation he got was that Brook ate the Yomi Yomi no mi.

He was also introduced to the ship itself, which he found odd, but accepted. He’d heard rumors that sometimes ships grew to have a soul of their own if they were with a crew long enough. She was Sunny.

Finally, there was Luffy. The captain of the ship and powerhouse of the crew. He was the most...interesting of the crew, in Zoro’s opinion. The boy could stretch because he ate the gomu gomu no mi. He seemed to turn a blind eye towards danger and was intensely friendly. Also stupid and stubborn.

“Come oooooooonnnnnnn! Be a part of my crew! Joinjoinjoin! Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaase???”

Zoro groaned, walking faster away from the hyperactive captain.

“I already said no, Luffy! I have no interest in being a pirate! I just wanna go home!”

Zoro paused when he heard the young man’s footsteps stop. Turning around hesitantly, he was met with an intense stare. Swallowing, he blinked at Luffy. Did he hurt the captains feelings? He was just being...moderately honest. 

“Okay, then we’ll get you home!” 

Luffy smiled at Zoro, laughing as he headed toward the deck.

Zoro was frozen in place, his jaw hanging loosely. He...would take him home? But why? What did the rubber man get out of this? He was just going to throw them off course!

Gathering himself back together, he ran to catch up with the cheerful captain, his lips twitching up into a small smile that quickly faded as soon as they got close to the rest of the crew. He was...fine being here. But being around all of them made him nervous. He didn’t have the greatest experience with humans.

A hand reached up to run over the scar directly over his left eye, frowning at the brief flash of memory it induced. 

Shrugging off the memories, he followed Luffy over towards his navigator, his shoulders hunching up in nervousness as the others on the deck turned their eyes on them. Him, specifically. 

“Hey, Nami! We’re changing course!”

Luffy smiled as his navigator started sputtering angrily. Before she could say anything or even try to deny him, he pointed over at Zoro.

“We’re taking Zoro home since he can’t go home by himself cuz Usopp broke his wing! Captain’s order, Nami!”

Nami stared at Luffy for a few seconds before sagging her shoulders and sighing.

“Aye aye captain, whatever you say.” 

She rubbed at her temples, smiling gently regardless of her annoyance, and turned to look at Zoro.

“Alright then, so before I can get you home, I need to know where you live.”

Zoro stared at her uncomfortably, scratching lightly at his shoulder with his clawed hand. “Um...well, it’s kind of a hidden island. No humans ever come across it because it’s deliberately been created to never have log poses point in its direction. Plus, it, uh, moves.”

Nami gaped at him, a squeak escaping her at the horror of not knowing where they were going. And the island moved. It moved!

But, she supposed that she couldn’t be too shocked anymore. There were tons of things that didn’t make any sense here in the New World.

Zoro shrugged, pointing in the direction his instincts were telling him was the way home. “It’s that way. Just keep going in that direction and we should reach my island in...well, I’m not sure. But we’ll reach it.”

Nami turned her head in that direction, giving it a skeptical glance.

“Alright, if you say so.”

She walked over towards the helm, steering the Sunny until it was slowly drifting down the ocean in the direction of Zoro’s home.

She couldn’t help but mutter quietly, “I hope we pass by an island on the way.”

Zoro smiled gently at Nami, his uninjured wings fluttering contentedly. 

These humans were kind. 

He wouldn’t mind spending time with them these next few days.

Except for that cook.

Fuck the cook.

\-----------------------------

Three days on the ship had gone by fairly quickly.

Nothing very exciting happened. It was just...calm, and Zoro was okay with that.

Calm was good.

Calm was safe.

But HELL was it boring!

These past three days, Zoro hadn't done much outside of following the straw hat wearing captain around, feeling most comfortable around him and overall just having nothing else to do.

He wasn't comfortable around the other members of the crew, or at least not enough to spend time with them on his own.

Besides, the feeling was mutual. The other crew members often gave him looks. They were hesitant and wary.

They obviously expected him to turn on them sooner or later.

So, following Luffy around it was.

Luffy seemed to enjoy his company anyways, just chatting with him and asking ridiculous questions.

'Can you poop?'

'Of course I can dumbass!'

Zoro sighed, currently following Luffy around the ship once more, humming softly every few seconds to let Luffy know he was still listening to his rambles.

He didn't particularly mind it when Luffy rambled about nonsense. The constant noise was partly soothing to him and it kept the silence at bay.

It irked him when the other crew members hushed Luffy or sent him away, preferring to wallow in the silence that surrounded them instead of listening to their own captain's cheerful (albeit loud) words.

He didn't understand that.

Why would they prefer silence? What could possibly be better than the voice of someone close to them filling up the empty void around them?

Zoro never had that before, at least not for a long time, so he didn't understand why others would purposefully push it away.

They should cherish it. Bask in it.

Adore it since they were lucky enough to have it.

Frowning, Zoro turned his attention back onto Luffy, blinking when he noticed the silence surrounding him.

...Luffy?

Oh hell no.

Grimacing, Zoro looked around himself, finding that, yes, he did indeed manage to separate himself from Luffy's side.

This was what happened when he didn’t pay attention.

Sighing, Zoro resigned himself to wandering the ship on his own, searching for Luffy.

Sadly, he wound up finding himself at the exact spot he had walked away from not even three minutes later.

How did...?

Was this ship a maze?!

Growling under his breath, Zoro turned and stomped back the way he'd come, completely set on taking a different turn than he had earlier.

But then, he found himself inside the doorway of the ship’s storage room.

Staring into the room, Zoro sighed, his shoulders slumping.

Why couldn't anything be simple for him, huh?

Turning back around, he prepared himself to wander elsewhere in search for the captain, when he came face to face with a curious Nami.

Something akin to a squawk escaped him, causing him to take a step back and stumble over his clawed feet.

Shit!

This one definitely needed a bell around her neck!

A snort escaped Nami, pleased to have startled their ship’s guest. It was amusing to hear the buff, tough-looking man act like a startled crow.

"Calm down, tough guy. I just came down to grab some more ink. What are you doing here anyways?"

Nami stepped around Zoro, heading inside the storage room and picking up a small jar of ink that was hidden away at the back of some shelves.

Zoro shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable to actually tell the navigator the truth.

"I just...uh, was looking for Luffy..."

Nami turned and raised an eyebrow at Zoro, easily noticing that he was keeping something to himself.

"Uh-huh, right...well, he doesn't ever really come to the storage. There's no food here so it doesn't interest him."

She smiled, motioning for Zoro to follow her as she stepped out. The poor guy probably didn't even know where to look.

"Come on, you can hang with me until Luffy pops up. He tends to wander the ship sometimes and doesn't appear again until later."

She looked back at Zoro, noticing that he hadn't moved from his spot.

"Well? Come on! I'm not going to wait forever, you know. My time is precious and if you waste any more of it, I'm going to have to charge you 500 beli!"

Zoro started, his mouth dropping open in shock at the woman. She was going to charge him?! Huffing in annoyance, Zoro got his feet moving, catching up to a pleased looking Nami and following her up to the room where she worked on her maps.

As soon as Zoro stepped inside, he jerked to a stop, eyes raking over the maps and papers scattered around the room in some semblance of organization that possibly only made sense to Nami herself.

He walked over to a stack of rolled up papers and glanced at Nami, silently asking permission to take a look at them.

Nami stared at Zoro, a thoughtful look in her eyes. She glanced at his clawed fingers, thinking over the possibility of him ripping her work to pieces, but after a few seconds she seemed to make up her mind and nodded her head.

Luffy seemed to trust Zoro, so she would too. For now.

Zoro appeared to perk up, his hand immediately rising in order to pick up one of the papers from the top of the pile.

While Nami was expecting him to grab it somewhat roughly, Zoro was gentle and completely aware of the damage his claws could do. He made sure not to let the sharp tips touch the paper as he unrolled it and held it open.

Nami watched as he sifted through about five of her creations, satisfied that he wouldn't ruin any of them at this point.

She smiled and walked over to her desk, getting started on what she had originally gotten the ink for.

The atmosphere surrounding the two was comfortable, and looking at the expertly made maps and listening to the shifting of paper and the scratch of pens filled the room with sound.

This wasn't the silence that he hated.

This was… a pleasant quiet that he didn't mind.

Before Zoro knew it, he had looked through the entire stack of papers and moved on to another one, eager to look at more of the islands that the crew had visited.

His kind didn't like to wander far, too stuck in their superiority complex to travel and see the world and the people and creatures within it.

He never really understood why they were like that.

Until, of course, his accident.

Shaking his head from the memory, Zoro scowled down at the paper in his hands, gently folding it back up and setting it back down in it's proper place.

Pausing, he turned and looked at Nami, watching as she scribbled at the paper in front of her and appeared to be drawing yet another island.

Curious, Zoro stepped closer, the clicking of his claws on the floorboards letting Nami know of his approach.

Nami lifted the pen away from the paper, lifting her head to look at Zoro and smile at him, motioning him over and pointing at an extra chair in the room.

Seating himself, Zoro watched Nami work, keeping completely still for 20 minutes or so before he started to fidget.

Glancing up from her paper, Nami scrutinized Zoro before beginning to speak and easily getting back into her work.

"I want to make a map of the world."

Zoro jumped, his fidgeting immediately stopping as he zeroed his attention onto Nami.

A map of the world...?

"You see, since I was little, it's always been my dream. I wasn't really an...easy kid to deal with. But Bellemere-san put up with me. She took care of me and Nojiko, my sister. She loved us and we loved her. And...she always supported me in what I wanted to do. She was a marine, you know, but I know that she wouldn't have cared that I became a pirate. She always just wanted me to be happy."

Nami smiled down at her paper, her eyes flicking along it to make sure the structure of the island matched the coordinates she had written down.

"Sometimes I stole navigation books and she always made me return them. But she was never angry. She smiled and laughed and took me to return them. We were pretty poor, so we didn't really have the money to get me the books. But sometimes, she'd save up her money, and get me and Nojiko something."

Zoro leaned back against the chair, being careful with his injured wing, and listened as she spoke.

He had completely forgotten about looking for Luffy, content to just stay here and listen to Nami's past and watch her work.

Maybe he'd come up here more often from now on.

\-----------------------------

Zoro stayed cooped up with Nami for a good few hours, listening to everything she was willing to tell him, which was surprisingly a lot.

He learned a lot about her. Like her dream, her love of tangerines, how she was a well known thief (but not why), and where and how she ran into Luffy.

It was towards the end of that tale that Luffy decided to burst into the room yelling, “NAMI!!!” He startled Zoro bad enough that he fell off his chair.

It was pretty embarrassing, considering Nami’s reaction had only been a weary sigh.

The young captain had been searching for Zoro, and disgruntled as he was, Zoro left with Luffy after a parting nod to Nami and a thankful glance.

Nami only smiled, ushering the both of them out and very clearly telling Luffy that his debt was raised by 5% for barging into her work space like that.

Luffy didn't really seem to care.

That day had been fairly nice. Sure, he'd gotten a bit turned around on the ship, but he managed to befriend one of the crew members well enough. Other than Luffy anyways.

That day also passed in the blink of an eye, though, and today Zoro still found himself unwilling to purposefully part from Luffy's side.

Though, when the young captain decided that he wanted to play tag, Zoro VERY purposefully sat himself on the patio above the stairs, clearly stating that he was just going to watch him play with the long nosed kid and the doctor.

Luffy had pouted at him, but Zoro refused to budge from his decision.

It wasn't that he didn't want to play...well, actually, yes, it was that he didn't want to play, but it was also because he didn't want to risk injuring any of them with his claws.

That wouldn't get him many points with the crew.

So he sat.

And he watched.

It wasn't very long before he heard steps coming in his direction, and once he turned to see who it was, he scowled as he was met with the cook, narrowing his eyes.

Sanji narrowed his own eyes, almost urging the Aetheran to strike at him, but when the attack didn't come, he just plopped himself down beside Zoro, making sure to keep a good few feet between them.

"Here."

Blinking, Zoro looked down at the plate that was offered to him, his brows wrinkling in confusion.

What was that?

Sanji raised an eyebrow at Zoro, quickly becoming exasperated and thrusting the plate more forcefully in his direction.

"What's the matter? It's pie. Never had pie, Marimo?"

Zoro growled at Sanji at the name, stopping after a bit and hesitantly shaking his head no.

Sanji paused, eyes filling with shock. Never had pie? Well, he was definitely in for a treat. This was one of his best pie recipes. Though, honestly, they were all fantastic.

"Huh...well, go ahead. Try it. I promise it isn't poisoned."

Zoro glanced at the plate skeptically, not fully believing that it wasn't poisoned, but deciding to take the chance.

It at least smelled good.

Taking the plate, only just managing to keep his claws in check so that he wouldn't scratch the hell out of Sanji's fingers, he brought the plate to his chest and picked up the fork, cutting off a piece of the pie and quickly biting it off the fork.

And damn was it delicious!

Zoro was left in a bit of shock at how good it was.

The pie itself seemed to have tangerines in it, and they were so incredibly juicy. They were sweet, but not disgustingly sweet. The crust practically melted on his tongue, adding in it's own flavor and mixing wonderfully with the juice from the tangerine.

Sanji watched Zoro, amusement coloring his face as he watched the Aetheran take bite after bite of the pie, practically savoring every piece.

Perhaps the moss head wasn't so bad if he appreciated food this much.

He waited until Zoro was done with the pie, snorting at the satisfaction in his eyes, before taking the plate from him, setting it down beside him to take to wash later as he settled in for a short rest.

"Nami-swan wanted tangerine pie, so of course I made it, but there's some extra left. Enough for everyone else to get a piece."

Zoro looked at Sanji, nodding carefully at that piece of information. Yesterday he had found out that the tangerine trees belonged to Nami and were from her village. But that was really all that she had mentioned about her home, besides deciding to leave it in order to become a pirate.

"So, moss head, what do you eat on that island of yours? Whenever you eat with us, you always seem confused by what I serve, like you've never seen anything remotely like it before."

Zoro scowled at Sanji, hissing at him over the nickname again before settling back down.

"We mostly eat what we grow. We don't...cook. We know and understand the concept, but we don't do it. We grow fruits and vegetables, we raise animals, and we just eat it like that. We don't...cut and cook and season. We eat from the source and use our claws."

Zoro raised up his hands and wiggled his fingers for emphasis.

Sanji stared at Zoro in horror, not particularly disturbed over the fact that the man had eaten animals raw, so much as his island didn't cook or use any type of flavoring.

"And you want to go back?! That sounds terrible! I'd stick it out in some other island if I were you."

Zoro stiffened up, clenching his jaw and shaking his head sharply.

"It's my home...I have to go back."

Sanji shut his mouth, giving Zoro a once over before sighing and standing up.

"Well, if you say so, Marimo. If you want to go home, we'll take you home. Luffy's already set on taking you back. Anyway, I'm going to get started on dinner."

Sanji stood from his seated position, patting invisible dust off of his pants and stretching soon after.

He turned to walk away, but before he finished taking a step, he turned his head around and looked at Zoro, still watching the antics of the youngest crewmembers.

"...Do you want to help me? Maybe you'll learn a thing or two about cooking so you can do it on your own when you get back home."

Surprised at the offer, Zoro looked up at Sanji, staring for a few seconds before standing up, prepared to follow the cook back into the kitchen,

Nodding, Sanji stepped into the kitchen. He allowed Zoro inside and only closed the door half-way, in order to leave room for the Aetheran to walk out if he ever wanted to.

"You can start cutting a few things for me. Don't worry, I'll show you how to do it, but first, wash your hands! Always wash your hands before cooking. Sanitation is important."

Sanji ushered Zoro over to the sink, ignoring the man’s grumbling as he ordered him to wash his hands thoroughly.

It didn't take very long for Zoro to be comfortably cutting up whatever Sanji threw at him. A knife seemed to fit comfortably in his hands, and even though he wasn't as fast at cutting as Sanji was, he still did fairly well for a beginner.

Though, the actual cooking was the more difficult part.

Sanji talked constantly, telling him all about the vegetables he was cutting up and what kind of nutrition each one provided. He spoke of the healthy portions for each thing and what foods went well together. He rattled on about his spices and which ones dulled or enhanced flavors. The different types of oils were mentioned, different meats, safety precautions, storage practices, and so much more.

Zoro's head was swimming by the time dinner was finally ready.

After washing his hands one final time, Sanji sent him out to get everyone to come in for dinner.

It was an easy task really. All he had to do was open the door and the smell of food spread out onto the deck, immediately perking Luffy up.

His shout of "FOOOOOD!" was all anyone else needed to hear to know dinner was ready.

Zoro quickly stepped out of the doorway, allowing Luffy to run in without smacking straight into him.

Huffing, he looked up and made sure the rest of the crew was heading down before he went back inside and took his seat besides Luffy. He'd been sitting here ever since the first time he joined the crew for their shared meals.

That was also something new for him that he never experienced back at his island.

It was nice though. Full of noise and laughter and friendly teasing.

It urged a phantom of a smile onto his face that lasted throughout the entire meal. No one really noticed it but Luffy.

Luffy would turn to look at him, and even though Zoro hid his smile away, Luffy was somehow able to see the contentedness in his eyes. It always made the rubber man grin brightly and laugh.

Zoro shook his head, snorting softly as Luffy snatched up a piece of meat from Usopp's plate, starting up a small quarrel between the two, much to the annoyance of Nami and amusement of everyone else.

\-----------------------------

Another day on the ship had passed Zoro by fairly quickly.

The cook wasn’t...that bad, he supposed.

Still pretty annoying.

But he could at least handle the guy without wanting to tear him limb from limb now.

Again, he found himself in the company of Luffy.

This time, Luffy had decided to go easy on him and they just sat together up in the crow’s nest.

They chatted comfortably, Luffy using his entire body to tell a tale as always, and Zoro asking questions from time to time, chuckling whenever something particularly amusing was said.

“--and then I reached into the gators mouth to grab my hat but it woke up and--”

“Hey! Luffy!”

Luffy stopped, turning towards the entrance to the crow’s nest and pouting at Usopp who seemed to be debating whether to fully pull himself into the crow's nest or not.

“Usopp? Whadaya want? I was in the middle of telling Zoro a story!”

Usopp huffed, finally making the decision to enter the crow’s nest.

“I was looking for Zoro! And he’s usually always with you so that’s why I was also looking for you.”

Zoro blinked, narrowing his eyes a bit as he stared at the long nosed man.

“You were looking for me? What for?”

Usopp fidgeted, glancing down at his feet before squaring his shoulders and semi-confidently looking back up at Zoro.

“I want to make you some clothes. We can’t really have you running around the ship in only that sheet for the rest of your stay, and I don’t know how long it’ll last on you without completely falling apart. Plus, it’s also already dirty. I have a few ideas on how to make pants for you.”

Zoro wrinkled his nose. He was already displeased on having to wear this tarp around his waist. He wasn’t particularly keen on getting anything more restricting on him.

But, well, not everyone was comfortable with him naked. 

Humans were weird.

“...Fine, I guess.”

Usopp beamed, walking over to Zoro with measurement tape at the ready.

Zoro stood up uncomfortably, scowling at Luffy as he laughed at his displeasure.

Usopp did his best to work quickly, getting all the measurements he needed from Zoro’s legs as fast as possible and practically beaming once he was done.

“Alright! I’ll prepare some pants for you soon! I’m having Brook help me with the designs, he’s pretty good at that. And I don’t think I can even make you a shirt with those wings of yours so...no shirt.”

Zoro grunted, pleased that he didn’t have to wear those upper-body cloths. They looked far more restricting than the pants. Especially for his wings.

Usopp shrugged and went back to the opening for the crow’s nest, making his way down.

“I should have something ready for you tomorrow! So deal with the sheets for just today, okay?”

Zoro nodded and went back over to sit besides Luffy, huffing at the wide smile on the captain’s face. He reached out and gripped onto one of Luffy’s cheeks, being careful with the tips of his claws, and tugged.

“Stop grinning like that! It’s creepy!”

All Luffy could do was laugh and launch back into his previous tale.

They weren’t disturbed again until meal time.

\-----------------------------

As soon as Zoro had discovered the couch in the men’s quarters on the second day of his stay, he had immediately claimed it as his bed.

The first day of his stay, he hadn’t slept, so there was nothing to discover.

The crew had originally offered him a spare hammock that they had laying around, just in case, but he refused it in favor of the couch.

Besides, he couldn’t have properly slept on the hammock because of his wings. Sleeping face down in it or even sideways wouldn’t have been very comfortable.

The couch, however, was perfect.

It was flat and he could sleep on it without hurting his wings.

Plus, it was comfortable.

So comfortable, in fact, that he didn’t notice when a certain member of the crew entered the room until he was startled into sitting up by a loud “Yohohoho!”

Zoro began cursing in his native tongue, confusing Brook a bit with the strange language.

“Yohoho! Zoro-san, please follow me! We have your pants ready! I designed them and may I say that you’ll look very striking in them!”

Zoro stopped mid-rant, remembering that the man couldn’t understand him anyways.

Pants?

What were...oh, right. Those leg restraints. 

Zoro frowned, sighing softly before standing and following Brook out of the men’s room and towards Usopp’s “factory” as he calls it.

As soon as they walked in, Brook steered him off towards a tired looking Usopp.

Come to think of it, he didn’t remember seeing the man in the men’s room when he went to bed, or even afterwards.

Brook either.

Did they...stay up all night?

Zoro stared at the two in disbelief, not at all prepared for when they jumped at him and started wrapping this torn up looking mess around his legs. 

They tore off the cloth that was wrapped around his waist and wrapped a smooth material around as soon as it was gone. He stared in confusion as it...didn’t really look like their pants, but then Brook kneeled down to his left and grabbed at two separate pieces of cloth a bit above his feet, slipping a small metallic stick into a box. He then grabbed at the top of it and pulled it up.

Zoro watched, stunned, as the pants appeared to just magically close.

The metallic thing stopped at his hip, keeping that side of the pants closed. 

Next, Usopp kneeled down to his right, doing the same Brook had done to that side of the leg, but inwards. As soon as Usopp closed it up to his thigh, he stopped though.

A blush overcame his cheeks and he looked away, shaking his head.

“I can’t! Zoro, you do the rest. Just...just pull on the zipper and close it up to your opposite leg. Be careful not to get it caught on your-- y-your, uh, privates. It’ll hurt if you do!” 

Zoro blinked down at Usopp, confused on why he was embarrassed but shrugging it off. Privates? Did he mean his dick? 

Zoro glanced down at himself skeptically before turning his attention to the zipper and grabbing it carefully. He tugged on it experimentally and watched as it closed up a bit more.

He’d ask how that worked later.

Shrugging, Zoro started closing it more confidently, being careful around his “privates” like Usopp had said, before triumphantly reaching the end of his other leg.

The pants themselves weren’t too bad.

They were light and easy to move in. They weren’t too tight or too loose. It was...fine, he supposed.

It didn’t really bother him.

The color didn’t bug him either.

It was a dark green; almost black. They had a few pockets that Zoro wasn’t sure would be very useful to him, but maybe he’d find something to put in there eventually. 

Hopefully he didn’t tear them with his claws though.

Pleased, Zoro lifted his head up to look at Brook and Usopp.

“They’re not bad.”

Usopp and Brook both grinned, grabbing at Zoro and dragging him over towards Usopp’s desk to tell him how they came up with the idea for the pants and a few others that they had made for him.

Zoro huffed, following them and listening to their chatter with interest.

He made sure to ask questions when he didn’t understand something, and he even helped with the next pair they were making him.

Well, “help” was a strong word for what he was doing. 

He just stood there as Brook fussed over what colors and fabrics would look good on him, occasionally getting Usopp’s opinion as he worked at his desk.

By the end of that day, Zoro had a total of 6 pairs of pants.

\-----------------------------

The following day was full of work.

Nami had asked (forced) him to help with cleaning around the ship and doing laundry and such.

It wasn’t hard work, but it was annoying.

Plus, it was a pretty hot day.

Zoro sighed as he swept at the last part of the ship he was assigned to.

He really needed a glass of water.

First, he swept up the dust and other random pieces of trash and threw it into a waste basket, then trudged off to the kitchen for his rightfully deserved cold glass of water right after.

When he walked inside, he found Franky rifling through the fridge for that dark liquid he always drank.

He watched as Franky brought out a bottle with a triumphant, “Yow!” 

Franky turned and caught sight of Zoro, his lips widening in a grin as he posed.

“Hey, Zoro-bro! Want a Cola? I don’t know if you’ve tried it before but it’s SUUUUUUUUUPER good!”

Franky reached back into the fridge and grabbed another Cola, popping it open and shoving it into Zoro’s hands happily.

Zoro didn’t even have a chance to say that he wanted water.

He looked down at the dark drink distrustfully, hesitantly bringing the bottle to his lips and taking a sip of the Cola. 

He immediately spit it back out, covering Franky’s shirt and the kitchen floor in the terrible drink and sticking his tongue out in disgust.

“That tastes terrible!”

Franky glanced down at his shirt sadly. He probably wasn’t going to be able to get that stain out

“You don’t like it, Zoro-bro? But Cola is SUUUUUUPER delicious!”

Zoro shoved the monster liquid back into Franky’s hands and walked over towards the sink, already working on getting the taste out of his mouth.

Franky frowned and glanced around the kitchen.

Well, since Zoro-bro didn’t like sweet, amazing drinks, maybe he’d like something more bitter.

His eyes immediately latched onto the cupboard that had the bottles of alcohol.

Franky opened it and brought one out, moving to grab a glass and put some ice cubes in it before opening up the bottle and pouring some in.

He waited until Zoro was done clearing the Cola from his tastebuds before shoving the glass into the Aetheran’s hands.

“Try this! It’s not sweet like the Cola! You might like it.”

Zoro wrinkled his nose up at Franky and then the new drink.

He sniffed it first, coughing as his nostrils burned moments after.

He REALLY did not trust this drink.

But...Franky looked expectant.

It wouldn’t hurt to just try it, he supposed.

Sighing in defeat, Zoro raised the glass to his lips and took a very cautious sip.

And he immediately jerked back from it, but he did not spit it out.

Instead, he let the taste of the drink settle on his tongue, his eyes widening as he finally got himself to swallow.

Immediately, his one good eye looked up at Franky, shining in amazement.

“This is amazing!”

He took another sip, savoring that as well before swallowing, a small noise escaping him and his lips widening into a bright smile.

Franky just...stared at him.

He...this was...unexpected. He’s...none of them have EVER seen Zoro like...like THIS before.

Franky numbly sidestepped Zoro, moving towards the door and stepping out.

Zoro didn’t even notice. 

Franky looked down and waved, catching Luffy and Usopp’s attention, and motioning them up to the kitchen. Luffy immediately launched himself up and beside Franky while Usopp walked up the stairs.

Luffy poked his head into the kitchen first and blinked at the image in front of him.

Zoro had a...serene smile on his face. From the open bottle on the table, Luffy knew that is was because of the alcoholic drink.

Zoro liked alcohol?

Usopp poked his head in after Luffy, expression curious before he jerked back in horror.

Zoro was...he was smiling! A lot! Holy heck, that was TERRIFYING! It looked downright unnatural on the Aetheran’s face!

Holding in a shriek, Usopp ran off to get the others, his horror intriguing them enough to gather everyone outside the kitchen door.

And, again, they were all frozen in shock.

Except for Robin, of course. She found the whole thing amusing.

A bird in love with alcohol.

How funny!

Zoro finally seemed to drag himself back from his stupor, only to turn to the gathered crew and beam even brighter at them, excitement in every step he took towards them.

“Hey! This is really good, what is it?”

The only one who could really seem to bring themselves to answer him was Robin, so she took a step forward and smiled gently at him.

“That’s alcohol, Aetheran-san.”

Zoro wrinkled his nose at the name she seemed to like calling him, but that soon faded as he took another sip from his cup, finally draining it.

His eyelids seemed to lower at that, a small sadness filling his eye now that he didn’t have any more to drink.

Almost immediately, Luffy straightened up, a determination filling him to get the smile back on the man’s face.

“Party! Oi, Sanji, make lotsa food! We’re having a party!”

Sanji just stared at Luffy in disbelief, mind whirling through the food they had left in stock.

“Captain’s orders!”

Shaking his head, Sanji opened his mouth to inform Luffy about their situation, but then his eyes landed on Zoro’s sad expression and he immediately felt himself nod against his will.

“A-aye, captain. A party it is.”

Luffy grinned, pleased as he moved to grab the bottle of alcohol Franky had opened and immediately shoved it into Zoro’s hands.

“Come on Zoro! We’re gonna have a party, drink as much as you want!”

Luffy laughed and dragged everyone to the grass on the deck, immediately coaxing Brook into playing his music and the others to smile and push back their worries as they settled to enjoy the party their captain sprung upon them. 

Luffy bounced back over to Zoro and dragged him along to join everyone else. “C’mon, Zoro! Let’s have fun!”

Zoro just blinked at Luffy, eye widened in surprise. Weren’t they...low on food?

Wasn’t that why he always saw Luffy pout during lunch when Sanji wouldn’t let him go in for seconds?

Why did they want to pig out now?

W-was it for him?

“Uh, Luffy, I don’t thin--”

“Zoro! Don’t worry, let’s just have fun, yeah?”

Luffy smiled at Zoro, laughing easily and dragging Zoro with him to messily dance around with him for a bit.

They were low on food, but seeing Zoro smile so freely was definitely worth it.

The rest of the crew seemed to be in agreement as they each took a turn to dance with Zoro, lifting the man’s spirits and freeing it from any worry he had for them. Even Sanji took a turn once he had finished cooking up a small feast for them.

They could just fish more. They’d be okay. 

\-----------------------------

Everyone, besides Nami, Robin, Chopper and Zoro, woke up moderately groggy the following day.

It became apparent within two hours of the party that Zoro had a VERY high tolerance for alcohol, much to a majority of the crew’s disappointment.

A drunk Zoro would have been nice to see.

At the most, the man was slightly buzzed at the end of the night.

Once everyone was awake, Chopper trotted around and handed everyone medicine to cool off their hangovers from the night before.

Zoro watched in interest, tilting his head as the pain in their heads seemed to fade within a few minutes and left them all mostly functional again. 

Some decided to go back to sleep and let the medicine work their magic.

Zoro snorted as both Luffy and Usopp collapsed back into their beds, while Sanji, Franky, and Brook chose to get up and trudge through the rest of their day. 

Zoro scooted over to Chopper, peeking at the medicine he held in his hooves and easily gaining the reindeers attention.

“Zoro? What is it? Do you feel sick too?”

Shaking his head, Zoro pointed down at the medicine in Chopper’s hands.

“No, I don’t. I just wanted to ask what that does.”

“Oh! This is a type of medicine I make specifically to help for when people get hungover. It basically makes the pain and throbbing in people’s heads go away but it doesn’t make you sleepy. You can choose to sleep though, if you want, like Luffy and Usopp.”

Chopper smiled, putting the un-used aspirin into a small bag for the next time it needed to be used.

“I’m going to head off to my medical room and make more if you’d like to come watch!”

Zoro smiled down at Chopper, nodding his head and standing.

He bent down and picked up Chopper, careful as ever with his claws, and carried him out of the bedroom and to the medical room.

Chopper made a small noise, startled at the gentleness Zoro was showing. He quickly relaxed however; he was pretty used to being carried around and loving when just about anyone did it.

Zoro was getting really comfortable with all of them now!

Once Zoro got to the medical room, he made a questioning noise to Chopper and followed the little doctor’s directions on where to go and what to get from which drawers.

After Chopper gathered all the needed supplies onto his desk, Zoro plopped down on the chair and set him down on his lap.

The next hour was filled with Chopper explaining what he was doing and what each ingredient for the medicine was meant for.

After about 10 of the little pills were made, Zoro had a moderately good enough idea on how it was done, so he asked to help.

Chopper was ecstatic that someone wanted to learn medicine practices from him, and he enthusiastically agreed.

Zoro messed up sometimes, but whatever he did wrong was quickly righted by Chopper and he soon got the hang of it.

He wasn’t nearly as fast as Chopper was in making the little pills, but at least he wasn’t messing them up anymore.

So, he spent his time helping Chopper.

They didn’t stop until lunch.

It was around that time when Zoro’s brain was tuckered out from learning new things anyway.

But, it wasn’t so bad.

It was pretty interesting to learn about how to make these medicines. Plus, the motion of grinding things together into powders and pastes was very calming.

In his exhausted state, Zoro didn’t really notice when he picked up a tired Chopper and set him on top of his head.

Chopper just flopped there, content to rest on the soft green hair and breath in the Aetheran’s calming scent.

He wasn’t really sure what it was, but Zoro always had this...relaxing scent to him.

Zoro trudged out of the medical room, breathing in the fresh air free of the sharp bitterness that tended to come with the medicine in Chopper’s room.

With a bit more life to him, Zoro walked to the kitchen and stepped inside, plopping down in his usual seat besides an already impatient Luffy and grumbling as he rested his chin onto the table in front of him. 

No one seemed inclined to comment on the exhausted pair, shrugging off the fact that Zoro was wearing Chopper as a hat.

They all tended to do it every once in awhile, after all.

Luffy laughed at the two and reached over to poke at an almost sleeping Chopper.

Chopper could only groan, leaning away and almost falling off of Zoro’s head if it wasn’t for the man’s hand shooting out to catch him.

Zoro turned his head enough to glare at Luffy. He moved the small reindeer onto his lap, keeping both arms wrapped around him protectively to keep Luffy’s evil finger away from the tired doctor. 

This only made Luffy laugh harder, mischief in his eyes. But before he could annoy the Aetheran further, Sanji set the food down on the table, immediately dragging Luffy’s attention onto the food instead.

Zoro couldn’t help but frown as he noticed the smaller portions on each of their plates, wanting to comment on it but not finding the right words to say.

Everyone seemed...like they didn’t care.

Even Luffy wasn’t whining.

He didn’t want to ruin the cheerful spirits they all seemed to be in, so he clenched his jaw shut and nudged at Chopper, urging him awake and handing a sandwich to the half-asleep reindeer, making sure he was eating before he dug in himself.

Once he was done eating, he lazed around and waited for Chopper to finish his own meal, standing and carrying him to the men’s sleeping room directly after.

He flopped down onto the couch, tucking his right wings in close so he could rest on his side and hold Chopper to his chest.

It didn’t take either of them very long to fall asleep for the next few hours.

\-----------------------------

Falling asleep with Chopper in the afternoon didn’t end up being that great of an idea.

Zoro ended up messing up his body clock.

The nap did wonders for him, but unfortunately it left him unable to sleep during the night.

It was pretty annoying.

Now, here he was, just after breakfast, and he was falling asleep on his feet.

He didn’t really want to make his body clock any worse, so he stumbled around the ship, trying to keep himself awake.

He passed by crew member after crew member, most shooting him concerned looks and some even telling him to go down to the men’s room and sleep.

Of course, he refused every time. 

It wasn’t until he stumbled into the library a little later on that he finally gave up and sat down to rest for a bit.

Closing his eye, he sighed, leaning against the back of the couch on his uninjured side.

“Aetheran-san? Are you alright?”

Zoro’s eye jerked open as he sucked in a surprised breath of air, his head turning to the woman seated not too far away from him.

How had he completely missed Robin sitting there?

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired is all.”

Robin smiled at him, a knowing look in her eyes, but she didn’t tell him to go to sleep like everyone else had. Instead, she turned her eyes back to the book in her hands.

“In that case, would you like to listen as I read out loud, perhaps? You can rest your eyes for a while.”

Blinking, Zoro mulled over the idea for a bit before deciding to go along with the historian’s offer.

He stumbled over before managing to right himself in order to walk over and sit beside Robin.

He didn’t mind her presence anymore than anyone else’s, and he felt moderately more comfortable than the first day he’d met her.

She simply had a...well, a creepy personality upon meeting her. 

Smiling, Robin began reading from a fresh chapter in her book, keeping her voice quiet but audible to Zoro.

Zoro felt himself relaxing quickly as he listened to Robin talk. He wasn’t exactly taking in whatever historical facts she was reading, but the gentle voice lulled him into a peace he didn’t feel very often. 

After five minutes of Robin quietly speaking, Zoro’s head kept dipping down only for him to jerk it right back up again.

It wasn’t that Robin was boring, oh no, it was just...soothing, to be in her presence and to listen to her soft voice.

Without even pausing her reading, Robin summoned up a few extra arms, gently maneuvering a pliant Zoro to lay down on his side with his head pillowed on her lap, wings tucked close against his body.

Smiling, she lowered her voice to barely above a whisper.

Zoro would wake up and continue to listen eventually.

\-----------------------------

That ‘eventually’ ended up being about 2 hours later.

Robin never once stopped her quiet reading, diligently keeping it up so that Zoro wouldn’t wake up to the silence he so obviously hated. 

Zoro grumbled as he woke up, his one eye fluttering open before shutting immediately after at the brightness in the library.

Robin paused in her reading to chuckle in amusement, using her devil fruit powers to summon up an extra arm in order to comb her fingers through Zoro’s soft green hair in a comforting manner. 

Zoro opened his eye again and glanced up at Robin, sending her a puzzled look as he seemed to finally realize where he was laying his head.

He was determined to sit up and away from the woman’s lap, but the fingers dragging through his hair were so gentle and soothing that he couldn’t even force his eye to stay open.

He gave up and settled back down against the older woman, humming his appreciation as she continued to read out loud and basically pet him into submission.

Zoro wasn’t tired anymore, so he was able to listen and take in what the woman was saying.

It was something about a war, though Zoro was honestly pretty lost since he slept through most of...whatever the point of that story was.

Luckily for him, Robin seemed to realize how lost he was, so she took pity on him and put the book down, instead bringing up random historical facts that Zoro could question and learn about, instead of just sit there and listen to spoken text that made no sense whatsoever to him.

It wasn’t too much later that Sanji came barging into the library, hearts in his eyes, and his voice pitched up an octave as he called out lovingly to Robin.

“ROBIN-CHWA-aaan?”

Sanji blinked, eyes zeroing onto Robin’s lap and the green moss that laid on top of it.

The two resting on the couch quietly stared back at him, one in patient amusement and the other in annoyance.

“Cook, whadaya want? I’m learning stuff here.”

Sanji could only gape, sputtering as a hand awkwardly pointed at where Zoro was resting his head and his face quickly reddening.

Before he could explode, Robin smiled over at him and spoke.

“Sanji-san, do you think you could bring us our lunch down here? We’ve only just gotten started on recounting some history, and I’d like to continue without interruption.” 

Zoro blinked up at Robin, easily sensing the threat under those words and snorting in amusement.

“Maybe we can have lunch down here, invite everyone so they can listen to you too.”

Robin looked down at Zoro and smiled, nodding her head in agreement.

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea, Aetheran-san.”

Zoro wrinkled his nose, waiting for Sanji to finally stumble his way out of the library before addressing Robin on what he’s been wanting to bring up for days now.

“Can you...not call me Aetheran-san? It’s...it makes me uncomfortable. Just Zoro is fine. Even Zoro-san is fine. Just...not Aetheran. I’d prefer not to be called by my race.”

Robin looked down at Zoro, letting her extra arm disappear so she could run her actual fingers through the man’s green hair.

“Of course, Zoro-san. I don’t wish to make you feel uncomfortable. I’ll call you Zoro-san from now on.”

Zoro smiled back at her, nodding his head and finally sitting up, tearing himself away from her lap and her soothing hand. He was going to have to sit up anyways for lunch.

It didn’t take very long for the rest of the crew to trickle into the library, some sitting on the couch with Zoro and Robin and others plopping down on the floor in front of them.

The library was lively with chatter and laughter, only stopping once Sanji came in with plates of food, one for each member balanced on his arms and head.

Zoro still didn’t know how he had the balance to keep it all from tipping over and crashing to the floor.

Robin sent a quick, semi-threatening smile towards every crew member individually, silently warning them of the consequences should they ruin any of the books with spilled food or drinks.

They all grew quiet after that, nervously picking at their plates and eating carefully.

Except Luffy of course.

He had finished every scrap of his food within the first few minutes of getting it.

Now he was just waiting for Robin to start her story.

Robin started up with any random historical facts that came to mind, answering questions as she went and adding more depth to them in order to keep Luffy, Usopp and Chopper thoroughly entertained.

She couldn’t have them get bored enough to start being destructive.

Zoro had completely focused on Robin.

He didn’t even care that Luffy was nabbing bits of his food every so often.

He was just so...entranced by Robin’s words; knowing that the tales she spoke of were true and that they had happened at some point in time was amazing!

It wasn’t a difficult choice for the crew to spend the rest of their time down in the library, listening to Robin’s tales and even pitching in some of their own from time to time. They might not have been history related, but they were interesting to hear regardless.

Especially Usopp’s… more extravagant tales. 

At some point, someone had gone out and brought down bundles of pillows and blankets, making the room more comfortable to lounge in and to spend the night in. It wasn’t likely that they’d be moving anytime soon. At least not until the next morning.

Except for whoever had watch of course.

But that was inevitable once everyone decided to fall asleep.

Zoro found himself with his head resting on Robin’s lap again once everyone had begun to settle down.

She apparently found it most comfortable to rest sitting up, but he could tell that she wasn’t planning on sleeping just yet.

He only shrugged, humming and closing his eyes as he felt her fingers run through his hair again, the noise of the crew either snoring or whispering quietly to each other lulling him into a peaceful sleep.

The last thing he heard before he fell asleep was a mumbled “Goodnight, Zoro-san.”

\-----------------------------

The following two days were filled with mostly group interactions with the others.

After that day with Robin, they all apparently decided it would be a good idea to spend their nights together, trading stories and laughing merrily together until it was bedtime.

They settled onto the deck to talk, going to their rooms to sleep once they were done for the night.

It was...nice.

Zoro liked it more than he thought he would.

He hadn’t offered up any stories of his own yet, but perhaps he would tonight.

After he got the damn cast off his wing anyways.

Yeah, you heard him right.

He could FINALLY get the damn thing off now.

He impatiently waited for Chopper to cut his way through the cast while Luffy sat in a chair in front of him, excitement clear on his face.

But there was also a...tenseness in the air.

It’s been there ever since Chopper trotted up to him and stuttered his way through telling him that he could take the cast off now, so long as he took it slow for another week or so.

Finally, Chopper snipped through the last of the cast, slowly helping Zoro stretch out his stiff wing a bit.

It was too long to spread fully, but he needed to make sure it opened up well enough right now.

“Alright Zoro! Looks like you’re all set. It’s still weak so you shouldn’t try flying too far with it for another few days, just exercise it for now. Stretch it thoroughly before each of your flights. Make sure that they’re short flights! Just a few circles above the ship, that’s all.”

Zoro grinned at Chopper, reaching out and ruffling the top of his hat.

“Thanks, Chopper. You’re a great doctor.”

Chopper couldn’t help but smile dopily, laughing as he noodle danced his arms and cursed at Zoro even as he stood and hurried out of the medical room, Luffy just a single step behind him.

Zoro was immensely impatient to get up in the air. He hadn’t been able to fly for almost two weeks now. Two weeks!

That was a ridiculously long time.

Zoro widened his wings to their full length slowly, giving the left side of Wado a good stretch.

He opened and closed them repeatedly, flapping them every once in awhile to get all the soreness out. It took a good while, but by the time he was ready to launch into the air, he’d already gathered himself an audience.

He grinned brightly at them, bending his knees and jumping up, flapping all of his wings in synchronization and immediately launching himself into the air without too much effort.

The left side of Wado still felt a bit stiff, so he was careful not to fly through the sky too quickly, relying mostly on the winds currents to carry him along.

He smiled to himself, closing his eyes in the pure bliss of being in the air again.

He could hear Chopper’s worried shouts from down below, but he just waved an arm down at the ship. He was perfectly fine. His wing didn’t feel strained whatsoever.

Humming in content, Zoro flew a bit farther from the ship, rising up higher and closer to the clouds.

He prefered being above the clouds, but he didn’t want to worry Chopper TOO much.

After a few minutes of slow gliding, Zoro felt a weight ease off his chest. He could finally be in the air again. It wasn’t for long; he could already feel the strain on his previously injured wing, but he COULD now.

Not being able to fly was just...it was one of the worst feelings in the world. Thankfully, having the crew around him made the feeling dull. 

Letting out a regretful sigh, he carefully glided back down to the ship, flapping his wings carefully and landing on the deck a bit unsteadily. 

His wing stung a bit, but it was already beginning to fade. Hmm, his limit would probably be around ten minutes of gliding every few hours. It’d progressively get better over the week hopefully. 

He sighed, gently stretching Wado once more before pulling it close to his body, letting it rest.

Looking up, he locked eyes with the crew, his lips twitching up into a carefree smile. 

“Thank you, for looking after me these past two weeks. I hope you won’t mind me staying here a while longer.”

Luffy laughed, launching himself at Zoro and forcing a surprised squawk out of him. Zoro flapped his wings, trying to retain his balance, but at this point it was a lost cause. He fell onto his back, his wings spread out around him so they wouldn’t be injured in the fall.

Zoro heard Chopper yelling something about being careful, but it was drowned out by his own laughter. He looked up at a grinning Luffy, his wings lifting up and wrapping around them loosely enough to where they could still see the other’s standing and laughing around them.

“We’ll take you home, Zoro! I already said we would. It’s a captain’s order, and I don’t plan on going back on it. So you have to stay on the ship with us until we get you home.”

Luffy pressed his crossed arms against Zoro’s chest, hovering a few inches over his face and beaming down at him.

Zoro only snorted, nodding up at Luffy.

A captain’s order was a captain’s order after all.

Luffy may not have been Zoro’s captain but...he still felt obligated to follow through with his order.

“Aye, aye...Luffy. I’ll stay.”

They grinned at each other, a warmth Zoro had never felt before settling in his chest. 

He let Luffy settle against him more comfortably, letting him pet at the soft white feathers covering Wado.

It wasn’t too long before a shadow blocked the sun from hitting Zoro’s face. Looking up, he locked eyes with an amused cooks.

“If we’re done laying around, I have lunch ready.”

That immediately perked Luffy up, causing him to launch right off of Zoro’s chest and to smack an elbow right on his forehead. 

Zoro cursed in his native tongue, groaning as he pressed a hand against his aching forehead and glaring up at Sanji when he could finally force his eye open. 

“Shitty cook.”

Sanji only smirked at Zoro, holding a hand out to help Zoro to his feet.

“Shitty bird.”

Zoro snorted, taking the hand held out to him and allowing himself to be pulled up to his feet. 

\-----------------------------

Later that night, they all gathered on the deck like they had the previous two nights, each of them prepared to listen to stories and offer some of their own. 

Zoro never offered up any of his own before, but today, he had a story he’d like to share. 

Once everyone had settled down, Zoro listened to them chatter for a few minutes before speaking over them.

“I’ve never told any of you the names of my wings, have I?”

The crew silenced themselves, turning curious eyes over to Zoro. 

Zoro smiled, spreading out his white wings and allowing a few feathers to tickle Chopper’s nose, coaxing a laugh out of the doctor.

“These are called Wado Ichimonji, but I tend to shorten it to just Wado. Someone I knew a long time ago named them. The name means ‘Straight Road of the Harmony’. I never got a proper explanation for why she gave them that name but...I couldn’t bring myself to change it. So the name stuck.”

Zoro tucked Wado back in, spreading out Kitetsu now. 

“These are called Sandai Kitetsu, Kitetsu for short. I named these myself. See, my wings aren’t...normal. Aetherans aren’t known to have three pairs of wings. One or two pairs is considered normal, and they’re meant to be the same color. But mine...well, you can see that the colors are inconsistent. Each pair has a different color. I’m considered the third generation to have these wings. It’s rare for it to happen, and it’s not something viewed as...holy. My wings are considered demonic. It’s why I gave my wings this name, ‘Third Generation Demon-Splitter’. It’s a way to defy them, I guess.”

Tucking Kitetsu back against his body, Zoro looked over the crew and snorted at how focused they seemed to be on his words. 

Finally, he spread out his smallest pair of wings, Yubashiri.

“These are called Yubashiri, ‘Snow Run’. The name may sounds odd but, it’s fitting. Yubashiri stand out a lot when I’m flying through the sky or when it’s winter on my island. The snow and the clouds are white, and these are black. That isn’t really considered a good thing since my kind tend to have light colored wings that won’t be so easily seen. It may be viewed as a danger to myself, but I’m also considered one of the fastest flyers of my kind. So snow run just...fit.”

He looked at the others, mulling over a thought in his head before sighing and ducking his head.

“Plus the name, uhm...sounds pretty.”

Zoro’s cheeks flushed a light pink as the crew burst into laughter, a few shouts of agreement reaching his ears and making him smile.

As soon as he tucked Kitetsu back against his body, an arm pressed against his own.

Looking over, he locked his eye with Luffy’s amused ones. 

“Yubashiri is a really pretty name Zoro.”

Zoro snorted, lifting a hand up and shoving Luffy away, causing the rubber man to laugh all over again.

It took a few minutes for everyone to settle back down again, Usopp immediately launching into one of his tales of defeating the ‘Deadly Red Lobster Sea Monster’. 

Zoro shook his head and leaned back in his seat, glancing back over at Luffy when the captain leaned into his side with a yawn.

These past two weeks had been, without a doubt, some of the best days of Zoro’s life. 

He wasn’t exaggerating either. Back home he was...unwanted. He was shunned by his people for how he looked. For how he acted. 

True, it wasn’t the best living experience, but it was...home. And home meant a place to return to; it meant he had to go back.

Here though, on the Sunny, he felt welcomed. He felt...wanted. His company was appreciated and sometimes even sought after. The crew teased each other endlessly and they always bickered over the dumbest things - Zoro even felt comfortable enough to join in, for the most part - and, unlike those on his island, they were all still kind when it counted. Zoro wondered if that was what home was supposed to feel like.

He wasn’t saying that he’d never want to fly again, but he experienced a lot of firsts here, with this crew, and really, Zoro thought staying grounded for a while was worth this new version of home he’s found. In fact, he wouldn’t have had his experience with getting shot out of the sky go any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it!
> 
> I plan on continuing this, so please be patient with me as I write it out. 
> 
> Leave a comment if you liked it or if you have any feedback for me!


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